In a candid conversation with reporters, an overwhelmingly positive Rendall talked about the protests at pipeline work sites, his dealings with landowners and the ongoing regulatory hearings the utility is involved in with the Department of Public Service.

"I'm deeply appreciative of the time and energy that every landowner has committed to this important project and that the communities they live in have committed to this project," Rendall said. "It hasn't always been easy."

Rendall also made it a point to add that not everything going on at Vermont Gas has made headlines.

According to the CEO, the utility added 1,300 customers this year in Franklin and Chittenden counties, it audited nearly 100 apartments in an effort to nail down how to make heating more efficient and affordable to tenants and decreased it's overall rates by eight percent in 2015.

"We have a very strong interest, an intense interest in doing the right thing by our customers," Rendall said.

As far as the pipeline project goes, Vermont Gas has reached agreements with 160 out of 164 landowners, and about about a quarter of the pipeline from Colchester to Middlebury is in the ground.

Rendall said the project will be done by the end of 2016 and won't cost more than $134 million as outlined in the memorandum of understanding.

"That's the most important way we can build the confidence and case for bringing natural gas service to new Vermont families and businesses in the future," Rendall said.